rory68

My server has been operating for several years with few issues. Recently I started getting errors about invalid flash drive. I seem to be lost in comprehending the available information on how to seamlessly change out my USB Flash drive. I selected a new "approved" USB drive, created a backup, used the USB Flash Tool and still getting an error about copy key to config file....what key? I still have the original USB which appears to operate periodically. Would appreciate some guidance on how to resolve this issue.

Gentlemen, very good feedback and exactly what I needed ! Okay, that prompts me to ask the next question(s). Based on economics and no real idea of how much storage space I will need, especially for media files (family pictures, home movies, etc), what would be some good recommendations for Parity and Data disks ? I presently have only two 2TB (non-NAS ?) drives installed which I have now configured as 1 Parity & 1 Data as a starting configuration. When I add more drives, I will configure the two 2TB units as Data drives. With an understanding on the need for Parity drives (2), adequate storage space and slight (6 ~ 10 USD) increase for NAS vs non-NAS drives. What is the recommendation for size, type (NAS / non-NAS / other ??) & RPM of drives to add to the server ? I am not overly interested in pinching pennies as I am in learning how to make the best choices. I am curious if the normal practice is to use 5400 rpm for Parity drives and 7200 rpm for Data drives or based on the minimal savings use all 7200 rpm (or higher $$). I presently have 4 SATA III and 4 SATA II ports total (two used). I have plenty of PCIe ports available to add additional SATA controller cards.

I again want to thanks each of you who took the time to share your knowledge and help guide me through my Unraid efforts. Due to your replies I have started to make some forward progress. I have also sent an email to Lime Technologies for some additional clarification. I have managed to upgrade to 6.5 and have accessed the webpage. I am now attempting to understand all of the correct "next steps" and determine how best to add additional drive units to expand the storage size. I presently only have two 2 TB drives and no Parity disk. What is the purpose of the Parity Disk and what would be an idea size ? I have several dozen 3.5 and 2.5 HHDs laying around and just curious if they are worth using in the server. Thanks again for all of the great replies, they were all helpful in some manner.

I really appreciate all of the great feedback and your time to reply, but I am still unclear on my path forward based on my expectations. The lack of not being able to communicate with Unraid support resources is leaving too many unanswered questions. I will attempt to clarify my thoughts. As I have stated previously, I obtained the files / USB from Unraid, but never had the opportunity to put the server into "operation". I have what I understand to be all of the correct files on the appropriate USB drive (please see below), but the system does not Boot to a GUI when started. I am not aware of the correct PDF document which steps me thru what I might be missing. One or more of the replies have mentioned a "Key" file, which does not appear to be on my USB ?????? If I obtained the USB and files in 2012, why is it not configured to boot correctly ? Why do I not have the appropriate "Key" file ?? My Unraid account login doesn't appear to have any useful information to help answer these questions. I recall speaking with Unraid resources in 2012 to obtain the USB and files, where are those resources now ? One of the replies mentioned using a browser (from a remote PC ?) and accessing the IP address of the Server hardware. I am not sure I follow this. There is certainly no browser applications running on the Server hardware. It simply boots to a Linux command prompt. I can appreciate these questions appear strange, but I am simply trying to get a basic residential server up and running. I appear to already have the Unraid Server application files, so I would prefer to use then or at least evaluate the product correctly before I decide to find another solution. I look forward to any additional ideas or suggestions which might be available. I think you can determine by my posts, I am not 100% clear if I actually have all of the correct components / software to meet my present expectations. Perhaps I obtained the wrong product for my expectations ?? Without having any success in getting the Unraid operational and no known visual idea / emulator / PDF users guide I am totally in the dark.

I am basing my information from the USB key data. A colleague recommended this solution as a good, robust server solution so I pursued the recommendations and as I recalled spoke to physical support resources at the time. Due to personal and work tasks at the time, I had to table the project without ever putting it into use. I have attached a view of the USB key contents below for reference. The readme file appears to state Unraid Server 5.0-rc5 ( I had not noticed this previously). The USB file contents are dated June 2012, so this is when I last used this hardware / software until yesterday. I would estimate my expectations are not aligning with the available resources. I am not locating a simple PDF guide on how to get started from the Linux root command line which the USB boot appears to execute. I imagine for a experienced user this seems elementary, but this is where I am stuck at. I have attempted to search my personal email accounts for prior Lime or Unraid communications but I do not appear to have any. I do have a Unraid account dated August 2012 but there does not appear to be any useful account information. It would appear I need to first determine how to "start" the Unraid application and verify the network interface. Next I would presume I should consider upgrading to the latest stable version. Any ideas or suggestions would be appreciated, for at this time I am not seeing the "forest through the trees".

I originally purchased some server hardware and the Unraid software in 2011, but never put it online. Years ago I did some programming in Unix, but basically have no Linux experience. I now want to install this server hardware in my residence and use it for multiple PC backups and media file storage. I am much more comfortable with a "graphical" GUI interface than a command line. I am not 100% sure, but I believe my existing Unraid is 3.0.35. 1) Does the lastest Unraid (6.xx ?) version have a graphical interface ? 2) Can I upgrade ?